


will we think about tomorrow (like we think about now)

by bloodredcherries



Category: Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-19 07:27:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17596961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodredcherries/pseuds/bloodredcherries
Summary: Not only was today supposed to be a celebration for Claudia, it was just rude in general to be grilling houseguests.





	will we think about tomorrow (like we think about now)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DesertVixen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/gifts).



“You were headbutting me in the esophagus!”

 

“But with love!” 

 

Janine paused in front of Claudia’s bedroom door, and quickly decided that she did not want to know. It was concerning that her sister and her friends were causing each other bodily harm for the sake of ‘love’, but, she decided that she would accept the mysteries of the Baby Sitters Club would remain beyond her for the sake of the day. Claudia, you see, had finally graduated from Stoneybrook Middle School. While the school had allowed her to partake in the pomp and circumstance of the graduation ceremony back in June with the rest of her classmates, they had, for some reason, insisted that she needed to attend Summer School to get a better grade in Biology, before allowing her to move up to the High School. 

 

Honestly? The ways that Janine thought that Stoneybrook Middle School had failed her sister were too numerous to count. She didn’t even know where to begin with them. She only hoped that the high school would force her parents (and Claudia) to take advantage of the extra resources that they had to provide for her. It had made Janine’s heart sing when her mother and father had finally conceded to have Claudia reassessed for learning disabilities. She had only been trying to get them to do so for the past three years, as Claudia’s difficulties became more, and more, apparent. So, when she had managed to pass the class, not the least due to Janine’s constant, lurking, presence, and officially had her middle school diploma in hand, Janine had convinced their parents to throw Claudia her very own graduation party. 

 

She  _ knew _ that Claudia had participated in the larger graduation parties that her friends had had after the original -- official -- ceremony, but it was important that her efforts be acknowledged, even if it was with a slightly smaller party, on a rather unfortunately hot day of the year. 

 

Personally? Janine felt like she was wilting. She longed for the wonders of the air-conditioned Stoneybrook University library. Still, it was worth it, for Claudia’s sake. While Janine hadn’t cared about graduating from middle school, she knew that things were different for Claudia. And she  _ knew _ that someone needed to see that, and make sure things were acknowledged, even if their parents needed to be prodded into doing so. Hence: Janine.

 

Janine thought about retreating to her room -- there was no way that she wanted to force herself to mingle around her parents and their friends -- but she knew that would be impolite. It was perfectly acceptable for Claudia and her group to go off to her room and eat the candy and junk food that Janine was reasonably sure  _ everyone _ in the house knew about, but her parents had standards for Janine. She was expected to behave differently. Leaving would have been perceived as horribly rude. 

 

Perhaps it  _ would have _ been horribly rude. Janine just felt that she had better things to do than navigate the minefield of potential drama that the combination of full grown adults in the house could cause. Not  _ much _ better things, mind you, but her computer never forced her to deal with sniping between people that were old enough to know better and it certainly never knew her as a laundry list of achievements and vocabulary words, like the parents of Claudia’s friends tended to, likely as a result of hearing her sister complain about her. The thought of going out to the backyard and dealing with the  _ children _ of said parents was even less appealing to her, especially since she was of the opinion that they were not properly supervised. 

 

The Pike triplets were lovely boys, and Janine supported their desires to become fiscally solvent, but she couldn’t help but fear that her parents had been taken by a ride when they took them up on their offer to ‘babysit’ during the party. She certainly didn’t want to be party to whatever insanities they were encouraging out in the backyard. Especially with the presence of Karen Brewer. 

 

She had known that Kristy had arrived when she had heard that ridiculous comment about the esophagus, but she hadn’t realized that she’d been accompanied by the rest of her family. She supposed that it made sense. Mrs. Brewer had only just recently married Mr. Brewer and moved out of the neighborhood, she was probably glad to have an excuse to catch up with her former neighbors, and give Mr. Brewer a chance to get to know them. For social people, an event such as a party was a good opportunity to induce mingling. Janine did know this. 

 

She just hadn’t expected to see that they had brought Charlie and Sam along with them. Janine was surprised to see either of her contemporaries, if she was completely honest, and was therefore not overly brokenhearted to receive the world’s most inconsequential greeting from Sam as he pounded up the stairs, obviously in pursuit of Stacey McGill, and decided that it was worth the looks and whispers she knew they both would get if she entered the living room and fabricated some excuse for Charlie’s required presence, as she sensed the poor thing was getting interrogated by all sides, not that she could hear precisely  _ what _ he was being interrogated for. She was still not amused. 

 

Not only was today supposed to be a celebration for Claudia, it was just rude in general to be grilling houseguests. 

 

She mustered up her bravery, and strode into the room, pretending that she didn’t sense the amount of eyes that happened upon her. Okay, the outfit she was wearing was somewhat casual for her tastes, but she maintained there was nothing eye worthy about shorts and a short sleeve blouse. She plastered on a benign smile, and crossed over to where Charlie was sat.

 

“I was wondering if you could come help me in the kitchen,” she said. “I thought I could bring a cooler of drinks out for the kids, and you could help me carry it?”   
  


It was a terrible excuse, even by her standards, but, an excuse it was. Janine was terrible at lying, but she wasn’t going to have Charlie’s decision to go to Stoneybrook University rather than that community college he’d gotten accepted to halfway across the state be dissected by well-meaning yet aggravating individuals. 

 

He shot her a grateful look, and he stood, and followed her into the kitchen. She allowed the door to close behind them, not caring that the closed door made the kitchen a million times hotter. 

 

“I regret insisting that my parents throw this party,” she admitted quietly, as she opened the fridge and got out two cans of soda. “I should have known that this would happen.” 

 

“It’s a big deal for Claudia,” he said, as he took a sip of the drink. “If I have to deal with everyone thinking that I’m not living up to my potential…? Oh well.” 

 

“It’s a bunch of hooey, if you ask me. Living up to your potential. Why is everyone proud of me for taking classes there and deriding you in their next breath? Does it suddenly become a bad school because Watson Brewer’s stepson is going there instead of to some highfalutin school out in some far flung state, just because the option  _ could _ have been there to you?” She shook her head. “How absolutely ridiculous.” 

 

“I’m not ready yet,” he admitted. “I mean, I’m sure that I could have gone wherever I wanted? Watson even offered, but I probably would have gotten scholarships…” He sighed. “I just couldn’t get it together enough to, and frankly I’m surprised that SU took me.” 

 

“It’s normal to flounder,” she told him. “Not everyone is ready for the next step after graduating high school, you don’t even  _ have _ to go to college if you find out that that isn’t what interests you. You have options, and I don’t want you to think that those people in there are right, because, they’re not.” 

 

“I don’t want to be like my dad,” he said. “I know that I don’t have to stay here, my mom has made that very clear, but...I just think of how he left, and I can’t, even if it’s not the same thing. It was hard enough having to leave the house I grew up in and move across town.”

 

“I can imagine,” she allowed. “You know how adults are, though. They think they know better than all of us, even though at least one of them ran a book through the dishwasher.” 

 

Charlie chuckled. “You don’t actually…?”   
  


“Mary Anne’s stepmother,” she informed him, and she tried to keep the mirth out of the tone of her voice, as she reminded herself that it was wrong to mock others for chaos brought on by their inflictions. “The walls in Claudia’s room are very thin, and, as you know, the club members have no sense of volume control.” Charlie had often found himself hanging out with Janine in her room during club meetings, after the allure of thirty minutes of driving around aimlessly had worn off. 

 

She supposed that, over the course of the past year, long though it had seemed, they had become friends. Janine often pondered if they could one day be something more.

 

Of that, she wasn’t certain. 

 

High school was a game of caste systems, and she was perfectly aware of where she stood. Where their friendship stood. And, of course, where Charlie stood. 

 

But, really, they weren’t in high school anymore, were they? Charlie had graduated in the spring, and, while Janine was a senior, their relationship could be independent of her peers, since they were both attending college together, for at least the next two semesters. 

 

There was always a chance. 

 

“Do they talk like that about you?” 

 

“Of course they do,” she sighed. “You know how people can be. I got used to it.”

 

“You shouldn’t have to be,” he protested. “It’s not right.”   
  


“They do that to everyone, Charlie. It’s part and parcel of being a genius.”

 

“That still doesn’t make it right,” he insisted. 

 

“Of course it doesn't,” she demurred. “This is, however, Claudia’s party. It’s not an appropriate time to bring up unfairness, whether or not it’s justified. This is her day, and I am doing my best to make sure it goes smoothly.”   
  


“I know you are.” It was nice to be acknowledged. “Have you already signed up for classes?”


End file.
